Game apparatus.



F. L. ORDWAY.

GAME APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 1, 1912.

Patented A r. 22, 1913.

t a. l I i FRANK L. OEDWAY OF SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO PARKER BROTHERS, INCORPORATED, OF SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

GAME APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 22, 1913.

Application filed July 1, 1912. Serial No. 706,847.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRANK L. ORDWAY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Salem, county of Essex, and State of Mas sachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Game Apparatus, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like characters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to a game apparatus designed to provide amusement and recreation and has particular reference to games comprising a playing board or case, men or pins therefor, and a top or other device adapted to be spun or otherwise set in motion thereon such as, for instance, the game apparatus disclosed in United States Patent N 0. 887,014 dated May 5, 1908, and issued'to myself. The game apparatus described in said patent, comprises, as a whole, a playing board or case, provided with fixed deflecting pegs or pins, movable pegs or pins, and a suitable spinning top.

The object of this invention is to provide a board or case of improved construction for said games and similar ones, and will be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawings of a preferred form of the invention selected for illustration and descrip-.

tion herein.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan of the playing board or case showing the fixed pins or pegs mounted thereon, and the movable pins or pegs, some of which are in position and others knocked down, the positions therefor, however, being suitably indicated; Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the case and certain fixed pins on the line 2-2, Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a vertical section of one of the pins or pegs illustrating the preferred form of construction.

Referring first to Fig. 1, the playing board or case, which may be of any desired outline, is shown as rectangular, and, see Fig. 2, of convenient height, and comprises the sides 1 and a suitable bottom 2, which bottom for reasons to be presently explained, is preferably of paper, pasteboard, or equivalent fibrous material as distinguished from wood or metal. The side members 1, Fig. 2, are rabbeted on their inner faces and near their lower edges to receive the edges of the bottom 2, which may be secured therein, if necessary, by any desired means, as by gluing,

the several side members being suitably secured at their ends to each other, as by tacks or brads. These sides 1 serve as inclosing walls or bounds for the pins and spinning top or other movable member. The bottom 2 is preferably smooth and level and may be suitably ornamented, if desired, by a fanciful design, 3, which may be applied thereto in any convenient manner, as by printing the same thereon. In this particular instance, the bottom or spinning surface 2, is preferably provided with a plurality of pegs or pins 4, of wood or other suitable material, shown herein as grouped into three sets inclicated respectively as 5, 6, 7 the pins of two 7 of these sets, herein 5 and 7 being fixed to the bottom or spinning surface while the pins of the third set 6 are movable thereon. The pins comprising set 5, herein four in number, are preferably positioned substantially at the four corners of an imaginary square, one pin being positioned near each corner of the case, and preferably near enough to the sides thereof to act as a guard therefor and to prevent the spinning top from becoming pocketed in either of said corners, while the pins comprising set 7 may be positioned on the board, for example at the three corners of an imaginary triangle nearer the center of the case where they are fixedas will be described. The men constituting the third and movable set, 6, of any desired number, and in this instance six, two of which are shown knocked down, may also be disposed at will but are shown positioned at substantially equi-distant points 8 of a circle 9, which positioning points and circle may be indicated in any desired manner, as by printing them upon the bottom, between the sets 5 and 7. Near the center of the bottom, I have shown a fanciful design, herein of concentric circles 10, which of course may be varied at will, the inner circle 10 being used if desired as a positioning point for an additional movable pin, or as the point for starting the top.

While the fixed pins comprised in the sets 5 and 7 may be secured to the bottom 2 of the case in any desired manner, I have found it particularly advantageous to construct the pins, Fig. 3, in two parts, comprising a base 11 and its spindle 12 with a point 13, and a cap 14L therefor, the bore of which cap is of somewhat less diameter than the diameter of the spindle and adapted to have a driving fit upon said spindle. I then preferably mount the pins upon the board by inserting the spindles through said board or bottom from the under side thereof into the caps 14, thereafter driving the caps thereon by which means the caps will be firmly and frictionally secured thereto without the necessity of using glue or other securing means.

As previously stated, I prefer to make the bottom of paper, because if the bottom or board 2 be made of wood or metal, it must be bored or drilled to provide holes to receive the spindles 12 which must then usually be glued therein, and this is both an expensive and slow method of mounting the fixed pins or men. I have discovered that by making the spinning surface or bottom 2 of paper, pasteboard or similar fibrous material of suitable thickness, and providing the spindle 12 with a sufliciently sharp point 13, I can readily force the spindle 12 through and puncture the board 2, without previously boring or drilling the same, and with no danger of splitting it, as it has no grain, and may thereafter readily drive the cap 14 on to the spindle, the bore 15 of the cap being preferably reamed out at its lower end 16 to receive any bur or rough edge of the paper bottom which may be pushed upwardly by the thrusting of the spindle 12 therethrough. The spindle base 11 may be conveniently proportioned as to height, Fig. 2, to furnish additional supports for the bot tom 2, thus guarding against any tendency of the bottom 2 to flex and sag. Obviously, the cap 14 may be further secured upon the spindle 12, if desired, by gluing or any other convenient method. It is possible, in this manner, to mount the pins more satisfactorily and very much faster, than by first boring or drilling the holes for the spindles in a wooden bottom, and paper is much less expensive than wood in its initial cost.

It is desirable that the fixed pins 5 and 7 be more or less resiliently mounted on the spinning surface, so that they may offer less resistance to the motion of the top when it strikes the same, and by their reaction also impart to it more of a rebound. By using paper as a material for the bottom I have found that the pins may be made to yield more readily because the paper support is less rigid than wood or metal. A still further advantage in using paper as compared with other material, is that its surface needs no special finishing, while wood must be suitably finished, as with shellac or varnish. Another reason why I prefer to use paper is because it may be more conveniently ornamented, as by printing, than is the case if wood or metal is used.

The movable pins having been placed as desired or as indicated by the positioning marks, the player holds the top over the board at any desired point and, releasing it from its head or his hand, drops it upon the spinning surface. As the top spins, it naturally travels back and forth between the sides 2 and among the pins, and when it strikes the fixed pins 5 and 7, which, as before described have been resiliently mounted, said pegs yield appreciably and in springing back to their original and normal positions cause the top to rebound and dart off in another direction knocking down perhapsone or more of the movable pins. The players spin the top in turn, the number of pins upset or knocked over'by the top counting as many points toward winning the game as may be predetermined by the players. Nat-- urally, as fast as the movable pins are upset or knocked down, the chance of scoring by the top knocking down additional pins decreases.

The board or case is preferably supported upon a level surface so that the top will not naturally travel to either side of the case during the spinning thereof, as it would otherwise do, and contact with a side wall, which would tend to shorten the spinning period.

Having described one embodiment of my invention I claim- 1. A game device comprising, in combination, a playing board, pins therefor each comprising a base provided with a spindle, and a cap therefor.

2. A game device comprising, in combination, a playing board, pins therefor comprising each a base provided with abottom puncturing spindle, and a spindle receiving cap therefor. i

3. A game device comprising, in combination, a playing board having side members, a paper bottom member, and pins mounted thereon, and pins extended therethrough.

4. Agame device comprising, in combination, a playing board, pins therefor each comprising a baseprovided with a spindle, and a cap therefor, the bore of which is smaller in diameter than the diameter of said spindle.

5. A multipart pin adapted to be mounted on a playing board, comprising a base having a pointed spindle and a spindle receiving cap therefor adaptedto have a driving fit on said spindle.

6. A game device comprising, in combination, a playing case having a puncturable bottom member, the fibers of which arein intimate non-uniform relation to each other, pins therefor comprising a base provided with a bottom puncturing spindle and a spindle receiving cap therefor.

7. A game device comprising, in combination, a playing case having a paper bottom, pins therefor comprising a base provided with a bottom puncturing spindle, and a spindle receiving cap therefor.

8. A game device comprising, in combination, a playing case having a bottom member the fibers of which have a cohesive quality substantially equal in all directions, pins therefor comprising a base provided with a bottom puncturing spindle, and a spindle receiving cap therefor.

9. A game device comprising, in combination, a playing case having a paper bottom, pins therefor comprising a base provided 10 with a bottom puncturing spindle and a spindle receiving cap therefor and movable pins for said board.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FRANK L. ORDWVAY.

Witnesses:

EVERETT S. EMERY, F. IRENE CHANDLER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G. 

